Battling Everton eventually beaten by City – by Matt Townsend

Everton worked hard and fought bravely but eventually went down to a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in yesterday’s FA Cup quarter final at Goodison Park so ending the club’s hopes of a trophy for another season.

This was always going to be a hugely difficult match against a very tough opponent and only the most optimistic of Evertonians would have given the Toffees much chance of winning it.

City are having an exceptional season and they have again set new standards for excellence establishing a record for consecutive wins and are fighting on four fronts to try and win an unprecedented quadruple. There was no chance they wouldn’t take this game seriously and even if they tried I don’t think they could pick a weak team away!

But for much of the game yesterday the Blues were more than holding their own, they defended superbly well and made City work much harder than they might have expected. Chances for the home team were few and far between and the best of their chances fell to Yerry Mina. Had his header gone in before half-time then who knows what might have happened.

For this match, Carlo Ancelotti reverted to the formation and a similar team to the one that had played and won the Merseyside derby with a back three of Mason Holgate, Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey. They were all really solid last night with Mina and Godfrey again especially outstanding – what a great buy the young ex-Norwich player has been.

In midfield he was again without Abdoulaye Doucoure and so he picked Andre Gomes to play alongside Allan and Gylfi Sigurdsson. Ancelotti might have been expected to have gone with Tom Davies instead of Gomes but to be fair the Portuguese had a good game.

Right from the kick-off as expected City dominated the ball and almost totally monopolised possession. They were knocking on the door and Everton had to be right on their metal to keep then out, however the Blues worked very hard showing great concentration and determination.

City’s most dangerous player was the young England forward Phil Foden. He was buzzing around constantly getting on the ball runnning at the home team’s defence and offering a real threat. But for all that excellent build-up play City weren’t creating that many clear-cut chances and the home team were looking solid.

Eventually though the Premier League leaders had one and it fell to Raheem Sterling but his shot, which looked certain to go in, was brilliantly turned round the post by Toffees keeper Joao Virginia.

The young third string goalkeeper had an excellent game filling in for Jordan Pickford and Robin Olsen, both out injured. It’s early days yet but his performances since he came in for Pickford might give Ancelotti another option between the sticks and provide additional competition to the two established shot stoppers.

Everton had a few half-chances for Richarlison and Gomes, but Mina’s header was their best opening before the break. In the second half it was more one-sided as City upped the pressure and the Blues began to tire from the effort of defending so much. Foden had a great chance when he turned sublimely and fired just wide and pressure was building.

It was still 0-0 though and perhaps some Toffees fans were beginning to hope that perhaps their team could hang on and take it to extra-time and maybe penalties.

But it was at this point that City boss Pep Guardiola turned to his bench to find a way to break Everton’s stubborn resistance. He brought on Rihad Mahrez and Kevin de Bruyne, not a bad couple of reserves to be able to call upon!

This is an example of the difference between the two teams. Not only do City have a much better first eleven but the quality and depth of their squad is vastly superior. They have two teams they could pick both of which would give anyone a game.

With just ten minutes left in the match City finally got their goal. City centre-back Aymeric Laporte fired in a shot that Virginia tipped onto the bar but Ilkay Gundogan was there to put the rebound in for 1-0.

Now Everton had to come out and try to score as Ancelotti brought on his substitute Alex Iwobi hardly a player in the same class as either of City’s subs. But of course this opened up the match and with just a few minutes remaining de Bruyne advanced from midfield and rifled in a long range shot for City’s second and winning goal.

So Everton are out of the cup and another season has gone by without silverware. The Blues made a real fight of this though and they can at least hold their heads up but this defeat again underlined just how far the Toffees still are from competing with the best in game.

Now with the last chance of a trophy gone again, Everton have to push on and secure European qualification otherwise this will be another failed campaign.